Business poll: BSP best, Senate among worst agencies

MANILA, Philippines - Forty-three of the 62 government agencies were given positive performance ratings by senior business executives, according to the latest survey of the Makati Business Club (MBC).

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) topped the MBC’s Executive Outlook Survey for the second semester, which was released yesterday.

The other agencies which made it to the top 10 were the Department of Tourism, Philippine Economic Zone Authority, Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (DOST-PAGASA), Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Health, Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), Department of Finance and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

MBC executive director Peter Perfecto said the BSP was the best government agency “on account of its role in helping maintain macroeconomic and financial stability in the business environment that supports sustained growth necessary for inclusive development.”

At least 96.9 percent of the respondents said they were satisfied with the BSP’s performance, with only 1.5 percent saying otherwise, resulting in a net score of 95.4 percent.

Perfecto said DOST-PAGASA, OPAPP and the newly organized PSA have made surprisingly impressive debuts in the business scorecard of government performance for improvement in disseminating accurate weather forecasts, successful signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro and efforts to make the country’s statistical system more accurate and efficient.

Also appearing in the MBC survey for the first time are PhilHealth, which ranked 12th; and the Pag-IBIG Fund and SSS that were tied at the 15th spot.

Negative satisfaction rating

Nineteen government agencies and institutions received negative net satisfaction scores in the survey, with the Senate, House of Representatives, Department of Agriculture, Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery, lower court system, Philippine National Police, Department of Transportation and Communications, Bureau of Customs, Department of Energy and Commission on Appointments landing in the bottom 10.

Compared with the 2012 survey, 14 agencies got improved rankings. These include the Supreme Court, Department of Public Works and Highways, Commission on Audit, Commission on Elections and the Civil Service Commission.

Biggest drop

Meanwhile, at least 31 government agencies, including the Office of the President, suffered the biggest drop in ranking.

The other agencies that got the lowest satisfaction ratings are the Senate, Department of Budget and Management, Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, Office of the Vice President, House of Representatives and Bureau of Internal Revenue.

The survey was conducted via fax and online among MBC members from July 1 to 25.

During the survey period, the Supreme Court announced its decision on the Disbursement Acceleration Program, investigations on rice smuggling and hoarding began, the government peace panel met with Moro Islamic Liberation Front leaders in Kuala Lumpur over the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law and Typhoon Glenda hit Luzon, resulting in power outages.

The 65 senior business executives who participated in the survey represent 8.8 percent of the MBC’s 736 members. – With Louella Desiderio